4-5 year old mp3 CDs that won't open anymore

[WoodPeckr]

OK years ago I downloaded plenty of old music & songs and stored them on blank CDs as MP3s to keep, figuring this was a safe way to store them. The experts back then, said CDs had a very long 'life' and should last 30 or more years done this way. They were stored in a safe, cool, dark, non-magnetic area. Well now when I go to play them many of these 4-5-6 years old mp3 CDs won't play or open anymore on even the same PC that burned them back then.
These were some old songs that are pretty hard to get today. Even CDNOW, Tower Records and some of the big Music stores don't carry some of these songs anymore.

Anyone else have this problem and is there a way to get them to play & open again? Tried a program called 'Clone-CD' but it couldn't read or make a copy of these CD mp3s that I can't get to open.
Anyone know how to salvage these CDs?

I have music stored on blank audio cassettes from the 60-70s that still play with no problems and am disappointed that these CDs are not lasting very long.

 

[The Lurker]

Depends on how you store them. Also some burners stink. Try different readers too. I have old ones that are just fine....

 

[WoodPeckr]

The Lurker,
They were burned on a Plextor, a fine burner that is still in use. It hasn't made a 'coaster' yet.
They were stored in a safe, cool, dark, non-magnetic area and many of these 4-5-6 years old mp3 CDs won't play or open anymore on even the same PC that burned them back then.

 

[Don]

Unforunately CD's have a limited lifespan - anywhere from 2-7 years I believe. You may want to try a different CD ROM drive. Some drives are better than others at handling error.

 

[Gentle Ben]

I'm just curious , what kind of media, is it specific to a brand or random ?

 

[WoodPeckr]

Gentle Ben,
I suspect it may be the media which was that 'no-name' silver blanks, Comp-USA is always selling.

The CDs done as Wave files still work perfectly!
It's the ones that were done as MP3s that are the problem.

 

[The Lurker]

The Lurker,
They were burned on a Plextor, a fine burner that is still in use. It hasn't made a 'coaster' yet.
They were stored in a safe, cool, dark, non-magnetic area and many of these 4-5-6 years old mp3 CDs won't play or open anymore on even the same PC that burned them back then.

True. I have one too. Try different drive is all I can say...

 

[iwantitfree]

This problem also applies to DVD, but they might only last 1 year. So, don't put anything important onto DVD and don't buy the no-name brand DVD blank.

 

[Svend]

I think we're coming to a point where all evidence of our culture and history will be gone and forgotten to later generations. Even our books don't last as long as they did a hundred years ago, let alone everything on disks, tapes, video. We are no longer storing everything on microfilm.
Nothing will survive like clay tablets from ancient Egypt, we're now the prehistoric time of the future.

May as well live for today, I suppose.

 

[WoodPeckr]

What's funny is I stored some porn on these same CD disks back then, as data, which is similar to MP3s which is also a type of compressed data and the porn CDs still open and play while some of the MP3 music won't.

 

[OhSnap]

What's funny is I stored some porn on these same CD disks back then, as data, which is similar to MP3s which is also a type of compressed data and the porn CDs still open and play while some of the MP3 music won't.

bad media

 

[WoodPeckr]

asn,
Not a single scratch, they look like new.

Just hope there is some way to save them....

 

[joebear]

The CDs done as Wave files still work perfectly!
It's the ones that were done as MP3s that are the problem.

Can you copy any of the mp3's from the CD's to your hardrive and play them ? I noticed that you tried Clone-CD and it would not open the CD.

USE ISOBUSTER !

extract the CD image using Isobuster, you will get a exact copy of the CD. You will get a bin and cue file, mount the cue file in Dameon tools and try playing the files again.

if you can't extract the whole cd image then you should be able to extract each of the mp3s separately

http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/

The Ultimate CD and DVD data recovery tool !

Rescue lost files from a bad or trashed CD or DVD !
Save important documents, precious pictures or video from the family, your only system backup, ...
IsoBuster can do it all !

IsoBuster is a highly specialized yet easy to use CD and DVD data recovery tool. It supports all CD and DVD formats and all common CD and DVD file-systems (= set of files and folders). Start up IsoBuster, Insert a CD or DVD, select the drive (if not selected already) and let IsoBuster mount the media. IsoBuster immediately shows you all the tracks and sessions located on the media, combined with all file-systems that are present. This way you get easy access, just like explorer, to all the files and folders per file-system. Instead of being limited to one file-system that the OS picks for you, you have access to "the complete picture". Access data from older sessions, access data that your OS (e.g. Windows) does not see or hides from you etc.

Combine this all-revealing functionality with far better read and recovery mechanisms, scanning for lost files functionality, workarounds for a wide range of drive and software bugs, limitations or shortcomings and you have an enormously powerful data recovery tool. IsoBuster is must-have-software for every PC user and is deliberately kept low priced to be able to offer a solution for everybody, even if it is much used in the professional optical and data forensics world.

 

[WoodPeckr]

joebear,
Thanks for the tip & keygen on ISOBUSTER.
Knew there were recovery progams like that out there and will give it a try when I can find the time.

rubmeister100,
(re: Have you considered that the files were corrupted when you wrote them? Have you EVER played those discs?)

After burning those past discs I did test and play them all, so I knew they were OK. You kinda have to 'proof read/test' whatever you DL to make sure it's of good quality, complete, flawless and not a misnamed file, because there is a lot of junk out there.

They all opened/played good for a couple of years, then after that the problems began where some would no longer play and I couldn't even make an image to the hard drive anymore. Now when the discs are placed in either the Plextor CD drive, or the DVD-Rom drive of my PC you can hear it attempt to 'spin-up' then it just cuts out with nothing else happening. In the past they always opened with no problem.